Thursday, 12 January 2012

Books

Imajine

The most interesting book I read last year was written in Haitian Creole.

(Read phonetically and interpret what you say as French, or rollover for English.)

"IMAJINE OU LEVE DEMEN EPI MIZIK DISPARET"

[12 Janvye 2010] se te yon sware kote mwen tapral konprann vrè sans fraz sa-a paske mwen pat santi'm te ka ni chante ni tande mizik e sitou pa gen mwayen pou yon moun te tande mizik. Trajedi sila te ede'm konprann tou ke moun pa anyen e ke ou dwe pwofite tan ke ou genyen pou ou viv la paske ou pa janm konnen kilè wap mouri.

"Imagine you wake up tomorrow and all music has disappeared."

[12 January 2010] is the night when I came to understand the true meaning of that sentence because I didn't feel like I could sing nor listen to any music and there was no way to get access to any music. Music had ended. Disappeared. This tragedy made me come to the understanding that we human beings are nothing and that we should make good use of our time because we do not know when we are going to die.

Imajine is a first-hand account from the heart of Port-au-Prince in Haiti. It's compelling and heartbreaking. I thoroughly recommend it as an alternative narrative on living through a national emergency.

Posted by pab at 22:27 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!